Work-positioning gripper for printing presses



June 3, 1941. A sHlPP 2,243,922

WORK-POSITIONING GRIPPER FOR PRINTING PRESSES I Filed Aug. 3. 1940 Iii?. la.

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@'far 'N T5" @figs m@ Patented June 3, 1941 woaK-PosiTioNiNG Galeras Foa PRINT- ING Panssns Arthur Shipp, Bergenfeld, N. J. Application August 3, 194,0, Serial No.`35,l,251

( Cl. i-415) Claims.

This invention relates to printing presses in general and more especially to transfer devices for facilitating not only the feeding and positioning of paper, labels, cards and the likeinto impression-receiving position on a press, but also to facilitate removal of the paper labels, cards and the like from the printing press platen, after the printing operation.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide improved devices for facilitating the feeding and positioning of paper, labels, cards and the like into impression-receiving position on the platen of a press, including grippers or pins for receiving and positioning sheets of paper, labels, cards or the like `one at a time on the platen of a press, and firmly holding the sheets of paper and the like so positioned during the printing operation.

It is still another object of the present inventionA to provide improved devicesfor facilitating the feeding and positioning` of sheets of paper, labels, cards and the like into impression receiv- Aing position on the platen of a press, and maintaining the sheetsof paper and the like in printing position during the printing operation, in-

cluding guides for initially stacking one or more stacks or piles of sheets of paper and the like on a supply platform, and also grippers or pins on the platen of a press positioned relative to the guides on the supply platform to facilitate simultaneously transferring the sheets of paper from the stacks one at a time to the grippers or pins.

These and other features, capabilities and advantages of the invention will appear from the sub-joined detail description of specific embodiments thereof, illustrated in the accompanying drawingin which Figure 1 is a fragmental transverse section of a printing press and feeder equipped with the improvements constituting the present invention;

Fig. la is a plan of a printing platen equipped with grippers of the type illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of one form of gripper;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View of the device shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of another form of gripper or pin;

Fig. 7 is a plan vievv of another form of pin or gripper; `and Cil Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section on the line 8-S of Fig. '7.V

Iny the embodimentillustrated in Fig. 1, there is shown the printing Dress platen l typical of that extensively used today, such as the Chandler 8; Pricepress, equipped with a feeder 2 of thetype extensively used` today such as` the Miller automatic feeder disclosed in Patent No. 1,194,327. With this combinationV of platen I and feeder 2, thereV isprovided a supply platform 34 for receiving a stack 4 of, material to` be printed. The sheetsfrorn the stack 2l are fed to the platen l by a combination of devices, including a suction cup Vsuch asthe suction cup 5Which picks up the j, uppermost sheet of thestack 2l, raising it, Whereupon the feed grippers 6, on the carrier l are movedV rearward to receive and grip the sheet so raised, which carrier 'l is then carried forward intdengagement with pins or grippers on the platenv It Whilethe platen I is in open, slightly inclined position. `According to the present invention, the platformV 3` has secured thereto a plate 8 equipped withv guides for positioning the stacks on the plate 8` relative to the front stops El of the feeder 2. This plate 8, may be secured tothe platform 3 by any suitable means, such for instance as the set screw l extending through an opening in the plate 8, and screw threadedly connected to a shoe slidably mounted in a slot in the platform 3; On the plate 8 adjacent the ends thereof there are provided the bearing brackets I4 for the polygonal shaped rod It, in the present instance, rectangular in cross section. On this rod I6, there are slidably mounted the guiding brackets Il arranged in pairs. The brackets l1 eachconsist essentially of the block l9having a rectangular opening to receive the rod I6, to x the bracket Il against rotation on the rod i6 While permitting slidable movement thereon.

In order to anchor the block i9 against slidable `movement on the rod i6, there is provided the set screw 2li passing through the block I9 to engage the rod ltr. and frictionally anchor the block l9in position on the rod itin the usual Way.

When the material to be. printed is arranged in stacks 21, the. feeder 2.wil1 be provided'wth suctioncups positioned one above each stack 2.1. Thereupon, when the operation of the machineis started, the cups 5 will initially and simultaneously engage the upper faces of the sheets of paper or the like in the stacks 2l, and feed them upward for engagement by the feed grippers 6 on thecarrier 'I which will thereupon feed vthe sheets of paper or the like so being advanced by the car rier 1 into engagement with grippers on the platen 1. To cooperate with the guides formed by the brackets l1 of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1, and assuming that the sheets of paper or the like are not only of the same length but also of the same width as shown in Fig. la, then there will be secured to the platen l a corresponding numberof pairs of grippers 35, the two grippers of each pair being positioned on the platen i to aline with the position of the brackets il of its associated pair to enable the feed grippers 6 to feed the material from a pair of guides l1 to its associated pair of grippers 35.

In the embodiments shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the form of gripper, designated 35, consists essentially of three spring metal strips 36,31V and 38 secured to one another by the fastening bracket 39. upper plate portion 4i) provided with a rear downwardly extending portion il having an opening therein to enable the metal strips 31 and 38 to extend therethrough and then provided with a rearwardly extending portion d2 having an intermediate sharp pointed prong element 53, the forward edge of which is only slightly bent upwardly as shown in Fig. 3, with two prong elements 44 and t5, one to either side of the prong 33 extending forwardly and terminating in the portions 45 and 41 respectively, short of the front end of the prong 53 and having upward bends considerably more acute than the upward bend of the spring d3. At the front end of the portion lli] of the housing 39, there is provided a downwardly extending portion 38 with a tongue 53 cut out of the portion di! and slightly waved, with the upper convex face of the tongue i9 engaging the lower face of the strip 38 and pressing it snugly against the strip 31 in turn to press the forward portion of the strip 31 against the lower face of the portion 40, The rear lower face of the strip 36 above the housing 33 is secured to the upper face of the portion 4l) in any suitable way such as welding, soldering or the like. The forward portions of the strips 31 and 33 also are preferably secured to one another, by welding, soldering or the like, and similarly the upper forward face of the strip 31 is preferably secured to the lower face of the portion i8 of the housing 39 by welding, soldering or the like.

The portion i furthermore has two prongs IM extending down below the lower level of the prong elements 133, 55 and 41.

In the present instance, the sides of the upper strip 31 rearward of the portion 45, have ears 5) bent from the edges thereof to form journals for the pin 5I of the knurled wheel 52 extending through the opening 53 in the upper strip 33 and also extending through an opening 5ft in the intermediate strip 31 registering with the opening 53 to enable the roller 53 to engage the upper face of the strip 33.

The prongs 43, 43 and 1 are provided to secure the gripper or pin 35 to the sheets of paper 55 secured to the upper face of the platen l in the well-known method customary in the trade, the prong i3 as shown in Fig. 3, piercing the paper 35 and being buried under the same with the prongs 4G and yd1 to either side thereof disposed to engage the upper exposed face of the paper 5 while the prongs Uil pierce the paper 55 as shown.

The rear ends of the strips 36, 31 and 38 have a predetermined curve or bend as shown, the

The housing 33 consists essentially of anV rear end of the strip 33 being slightly bowed so that its extreme rear edge snugly engages the upper face of the paper 55 to prevent a sheet of paper, label, card or the like being obstructed by it when fed into gripping engagement by the gripper 6. The rear end of the strip 31 on the other hand is bowed to extend upward at a considerable angle, in the present instance of about forty-live degrees to the upper face of the paper 55, and adjacent the upwardly bowed end of the outer strip 35. The two outer strips 36 and 33 are preferably composed of half tempered steel of about .069 of an inch in thickness, while the intermediate strip 31 is of an extremely flexible steel such as high grade Swedish steel of about .0()4 of an inch. With this type of gripper, the intermediate strip is particularly yieldable to prevent interfering with the ready reception of a very thin sheet of paper in the act of advancing the same while the outer strips 36 and 38 serve an entirely different purpose. While the strip 33 might be as flexible as the .intermediate strip 31, a strip composed of half ternpered steel, if thin enough, will serve'the purpose, so long as it snugly engages the upper face of the paper 55 to prevent the sheet of material being fed from unintentionally passing under the strip 3B between the strip 33 and the paper 55. The strip 35 on the other hand should be of a stiffer nature than that of the strip 31 to act as a buffer, reenforcement and protection to the intermediate strip 31. The free end of the strip 31 need not necessarily engage the free end of the strip 33 so long as the portion 56 thereof is spaced from the strip 36 and in engagement with the upper face of the strip 38 so that the bowed portion 55 of the intermediate strip 31 may cooperate with the upper face of the adjacent portion of the strip 38 frictionally to anchor the card, sheet of paper, or the like in printing position. The portion il in these pins is provided to serve as the forward stop for the card, sheet of paper, or the like, that is, the material to be'printed, the strips 31 and 38 thus cooperating with the portion dl to anchor the strip in printing position.

Still furthermore, the knurled wheels 52 will ride on the edges of the material to be printed and provide additional frictional contact due to the resiliency of the strip 36 so that the material to be printed may be frictionally anchored in position against the strip 38 between the bowed portions 55 and knurled wheels 52. With the pivot point, to-wit: the pin 5| of the knurled roller 52 disposed above the strip 31, the arc of the roller 52 exposed below the strip 31 for engagement with the material to be printed, will cooperate to facilitate ready feed of the sheet of material to be printed while being advanced into and out of printing position.

In operation with the platen l in descended Y open position, and the material to be printed in a stack 21, the nozzle 5 will be lowered into engagement with the upper face of the top sheet in the stack 21 whereupon the suction nozzle will act to pick up the uppermost sheet and then rise with the sheet so picked. Thereupon the feed grippe-rs 6 of the carrier 1 will move to receive the sheet so raised, grip it, and will then advance it into gripping engagement with the grippers 35 on the platen i. Thereupon, the carrier l will clear the platen l and the platen l will close into printing position. After the impression, the platen l will open, and'upon assuming the position shown in dash-and-dot lines in Fig. 1, the removing fingers l on the shaft 58 at the end of the arm 5g will swing over, fopen its jaws, and engage the sheet held by the grippers and remove the same, whereupon the i platen I`wil1 return to the original open position ready to receive the next feed.

VThe form of gripper 6G shown in Fig. 6 differs? from the vform of-gripper 35 shown in Figs. `2, 3, 4 and 5 primarily in that it dispenses with the" wheel 52 and consequently of course with the function performed by the wheel 52, in this case depending entirely upon a frictional lock, namely, that between the bowed portion Bl oi the *intermediate strip 62, and the lower strip 53. Y AThe gripper or fork shown in Figs. 7 and 3 is ofthe type which dispenses with the securing prongs such as the prongs t3, E and il of the form-shown in Fig. 2. The lower strip 64 corresponding to the strip 38 of the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 is enlarged at its iront end into thebifurcated extension t5. The intermediate Astrip lf composed of high grade Swedish steel of about '.604 of an inch in thickness, is secured at its free end to the rear end of the upper face of the extension 65 by soldering, welding and the like, and then bent over to form the flange 58 folded upon the front end of the upper strip 6l and secured thereto by soldering, welding or the like. The upper strip 5l, similar to the strip 35lof lthe embodiment illustrated in 2", is g provided with a linurled wheel 69 which also extends through an opening in the intermediate strip 6G and normally rests on the upper face ci the lower strip il so that the sheet of paper constituting the material to be printed is frictionally secured against the lower strip @Il by the linurled wheel rSS and the bowed portion l@ of the intermediate highly iieXi-ble, high grade Swedish steel strip @5.

A The fork shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is secured to a support by a screw or the like, not shown, passing through the recess 'El into the support. The support may be the platen such as the platen l in Fig. l, when the sheet to be printed re mains in the forli and thereby positioned on the platen during the printing operation, or the fork may be secured to a portion of the frame adjacent the edge oi the platen to facilitate removing the 'fork after the sheet to be printed has been positioned and before the platen is moved into closed printing position.

It is obvious that various changes and modiiica'tions may be made to the details oi construction without departing from the general spirit ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning Work to be printed on a printing press platen including a lower, an intermediate, and an upper flexible metal strip, the lower metal strip forming 4a base, the upper metal strip a protector, and the intermediate metal strip a friction :linger for anchoring the work in engagement with the base strip, the intermediate and upper metal strips having adjacent upwardly iiaring ends to facilitate receiving the work.

2; A positioning gripper or pin for positioning work to be printed on a printing press platen including a lower, an intermediate, and an upper flexible metal strip, the lower metal strip forming a base, the upper metal strip a protector, and the intermediate metal strip a friction finger for anchoring the work in engagement with the base strip, the intermediate and upper metal strips having adjacent upwardly flaring ends toY facilitate receiving the work, the Vintermediate metal strip being composed of a high grade Swedish steel, and the upper metal strip being -composed oi a half tempered steel.

3. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning work to be printed on a printing press platen including a lower, an intermediate, and an upper iiexible metal strip, the lower metal strip forming a base, the upper metal strip a protector, and the intermediate metal strip a friction linger for anchoring the work in engagement with the base strip, the intermediate and upper metal strips having ladjacent upwardly iiaring ends to facilitate receiving the work, the intermediate metal strip being composed of a high grade Swedish steel of approximately .094 of an inch in thickness and the upper metal strip being composed of a half tempered steel.

e. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning work to be printed on a printing press platen including a lower, an intermediate, and an upper ,flexible metal strip, the lower metal strip forming a base, the upper metal strip a protector, and the intermediate metal strip a friction linger for anchoring the work in engagement with the base strip, the intermediate and upper metal strips having adjacent upwardly iiaring ends to facilitate receiving the work, the vintermediate metal strip being composed of a highly iieXible readily yieldable metal, readily to receive the work being fed thereto and yet having sufficient tension eiectively to anchor the work, when received, in engagement with the lower metal strip.

5. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning a sheet of material, label, card or the like to be printed on a printing press platen including a housing having a positioning stop wall, a lower base steel strip, a highly i'iesible intermediate steel strip having an upwardly flaring front end to facilitate receiving the material to be printed and a bowed portion frictionally to press the material so received into anchoring engagement with the base strip and with the advanced edge of the sheet of material in engagement with said stop wall, and an upper protective steel strip having a front upwardly flaring end aring away from the front upwardly haring end of the in-V termediate strip, said three strips being secured to said housing.

6. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning a sheet of material, label, card or the like to be printed on a printing press platen including a housing having a positioning stop wall, a lower base steel strip, a highly flexible intermediate steel strip having an upwardly flaring front end to facilitate receiving the material to be printed and a bowed portion frictionally to press the material so received into anchoring engagement with the base strip and with the advanced edge of the sheet of material in engagement with said stop wall, and an upper protective steel strip having a front upwardly flaring end flaring away from the front upwardly haring end of the intermediate strip, said three strips being secured to said housing, there being registering openings in the upper and intermediate strips, and a knurled roller rotatably connected to said upper strip with its intermediate said upper and intermediate strips and its periphery normally engaging said base strip, said roller co` operating with said bowed portion to anchor the sheet of material to be printed in frictional engagement with the base strip.

7. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning a sheet of material, label, 'card or the like to be printed on a printing press platen including a housing having a positioning stop wall, a lower base steel strip, a highly flexible intermediate steel strip having an upwardly haring front end to facilitate receiving the material to be printed and a bowed portion frictionally to press the material so received into anchoring engagement with the base strip and with the advanced edge of the sheet of material in engagement with said stop wall, and an upper protective steel strip having a front upwardly flaring end flaring away from the front upwardly flaring end of the intermediate strip, said three strips being welded to said housing, and said housing having rearwardly extending prongs including an intermediate prong to pierce a positioning supporting paper sheet and two auxiliary adjacent prongs to rest on the upper face of the supporting paper sheet.

8. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning a sheet of material, label, card or the like to be printed on a printing press platen including a housing having a positioning stop wall, a lower .base metal strip, a highly eXible intermediate metal strip having a bowed portion frictionally to press the material so received into anchoring engagement with the base strip and with the advanced edge of the sheet of material in engagement with said stop wall, and an upper protective metal strip having a front upwardly ilaring end, said three strips being secured to said housing.

9. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning a sheet of material, label, card or the like to be printed on a printing press platen including a housing having a positioning stop wall, a lower base metal strip, a highly flexible intermediate metal strip having an upwardly flaring front end to facilitate receiving the material to be printed and with the advanced edge of the sheet of material in engagement with said stop wall, and an upper protective metal strip having a front upwardly flaring end, said three strips being secured to said housing.

l0. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning a sheet of material, label, card or the like to be printed on :a printing press platen including a housing having a positioning stop Wall, a lower :base metal strip, la highly flexible intermediate metal strip having an upwardly ilaring front end to facilitate receiving the material to be printed, and an upper protective metal strip having a front upwardly flaring end, said three strips being secured to said housing, there being registering openi-ngs in the upper and intermediate strips, @and Ia roller positioned in said `openings and rotatably connected to said upper strip with its axis intermediate said upper and intermediate strips :and its periphery normally engaging said base strip to anchor the sheet of material to be p rinted in frictional engagement with the base strip.

11. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning a sheet of material, label, card or the like to be printed on a printing press platen including `a housing having a positioning stop wall, a lower base metal strip, a highly flexible intermediate metal strip having a bowed portion friction'ally to press the material so received into anchoring engagement with the base strip and with the ad- Cil vanced edge `of the sheet of material in engagenient with said stop wall, and an` upper protective metal strip having a front upwardly aring end, said three strips being secured to said housing, and a roller rotatably connected to said upper strip with its :axis intermediate said upper and intermediate strips yand its periphery normally -engaging said base strip, said roller cooperating with said bowed portion to anchor the sheet of material to be printed in friction'al engagement with the base strip.

12. A positioning gripper or .pin for positioning a sheet of work to be printed on .a printing press platen including a lower base metal strip, a highly flexible intermediate metal strip having an upwardly flaring front end to facilitate receiving the material to be printed, an upper protective metal strip having a front upwardly flaring end, there being registering openings in the upper and intermediate strips, and a roller positioned in said openings land rotatably connected to said upper strip with its axis intermediate said upper and intermediate strips and its periphery normally engaging said base strip to anchor the work to be printed in frictional engagement with the base strip.

13. A positioning gripper o-r pin for positioning ia sheet of material, label, card or the like to be printed on a printing press platen including a housing having a positioning stop Wall, la lower lbase metal strip, la highly flexible intermediate metal strip havin-g a bowed portion frictionally to press the material so received into anchoring engagement with the base strip Iand with the advanced edge of the sheet of material in engagement with said stop w-all, and an upper protective metal strip having a front upwardly flaring end, said three strips being welded to said housing, and said housing having rearwardly extending -prongs including an intermediate prong to pierce a positioning supporting paper sheet and two :auxiliary adjacent `prongs to rest Ion the upper face of the supporting paper sheet.

14. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning the work to be printed on a printing press ,platen including a lower base metal strip, 'a highly exible intermediate metal strip having a bowed .portion fri-ctionally tov press the work received into ,anchoring engagement with the 4base strip, an upper protective metal strip having a front upwardly flaring end, Iand rearwardly extending securing means, said strips and securing means being operatively associated so that the securing means serves to secure the lg-ripper to the printing press platen, the lower metal strip forms the base, the upper metal strip forms a protector, and the intermediate metal strip forms a friction nger for anchoring the work in engagement with the base strip.

15. A positioning gripper or pin for positioning the work to be printed on a printing press platen including a lower base metal strip, :an upper metal strip having a front upwardly flaring end, there .being an opening in said upper metal strip, and a roller positioned in said yopening and rotatably connected to said upper strip and .cooperating with said upper strip resiliently to anchor the work to be .printed in friction'al engagement with the base strip..

ARTHUR SHIPP. 

